NETGEAR Reviews 158

**Netgear Orbi 970 Series: Expensive Hardware with Critical Software Defect**

After investing significantly in this high-end mesh system, I've encountered a serious and ongoing problem: the GUI displays all satellites as disconnected despite active wired connections and full WiFi coverage throughout my home.

**The Issue:**
All satellites are properly wired and functioning. WiFi performance is stable across the house. Yet the interface continuously reports them as offline, creating false alarms and forcing unnecessary troubleshooting cycles. This is not a cosmetic glitch—it destroys user confidence in a system you're paying premium prices for.

**Additional Concerns:**
- Setup and maintenance are genuinely stressful, compounded by unreliable status reporting
- The product is advertised as supporting 6 satellites, but documentation indicates 4 is the recommended maximum
- At this price point, the software should be reliable. It isn't.

**The Bigger Picture:**
This system is expensive and defective. For the cost, users deserve hardware *and* software that work as promised. Right now, you're paying for uncertainty.

If you're considering this product, know what you're getting into: premium pricing, complex setup, and a GUI you cannot trust.

This has been one of the most frustrating technology purchases we have ever made.
We spent two full days without stable internet while trying to set up the Netgear Orbi Mesh WiFi 7 model RBE371. We work from home, so losing connectivity for that long had a real impact on our work and daily life.
We contacted Netgear customer support multiple times and were repeatedly put on hold, transferred between agents, and asked to repeat the same troubleshooting steps over and over. Support was outsourced, and while the agents followed scripts, there was little to no empathy or understanding of how disruptive this issue was. The tone often felt dismissive, and at times we were spoken to as if we did not understand basic networking concepts, which only added to the frustration.
We went through two separate devices. The first unit did not work at all. We physically went back to the store to exchange it, only to experience the same issues with the replacement. After hours of troubleshooting and multiple support calls, the system still did not work.
For a premium priced product marketed as next generation and reliable, this experience is completely unacceptable. This is not a plug and play solution, and it is absolutely not suitable if you need dependable internet or peace of mind.
We are now returning the product entirely.
Netgear seriously needs to rethink both the reliability of this product and the quality of its customer support. This is, without question, the worst customer service experience we have had in years, especially for a product at this price point.
If you value your time, your work from home setup, or basic customer support that shows empathy, avoid this product.

I purchased a Netgear NightHawk cm1200 modem from Amazon, after 2 months or so I started having issues with the modem. After a back and forth with Netgear (12/29/2024 thru 1/13/2025), I finally got an RMA Standard Swap Exchange. The catch, I must pay for the return shipping which means that I will be out of internet service until I return the item, and they ship the replacement. Under the terms I could get a new or used replacement. I will purchase a new modem (not a netgear) and sell this paper weight that cost me over $200. I will never purchase another Netgear product. The problem with this case is that I explained to them that the modem was the issue, I talked to a tech and explained the case, when I told them even without the router my internet would still fail. After the cable company replaced all of cable with new, they still gave me the run around. Now I have started my internet classes and need my internet for school this happens. Today I explained to another tech at Netgear the same thing that I told them before, now he agrees, what a joke, by the way I am a CCNA Network Technician, Degree in Networking. Yesterday my Brother-in law called me and said that his Netgear modem just failed and would I help him choose a new one, you can bet that it was not a Netgear, Karma is amazing.

These people posting positive reviews on Youtube of this crap hardware should get a foot up there butt. My $15 dongle from TP link is way faster and more dependable then this garbage. I just purchased the A8000 and it is slower then a dongle that is 2 years older and ten times cheaper. Even my laptop and computer have faster inbuilt wifi.

Got not 1 but 2 system from Netgear. Nighthawk wifi 6 mesh 250$ cad and just in case it was a problem with thaht device, just got a ORBI wifi 6 plus 750$. Both Garbage, impossible to keep a connection. The first one i took too long to test it and bestbuy did not accept the return. Of course, no one wants other ppl garbage. Took a leap of faith in the compagny and got the second Orbi apparently the best according to multiple review on the web. For some obscure reason this unit, keep blocking access to my devices. Its already a pain to connect IOT devices in house, if on top of that the stupid router block access to the devices its impossible to connect them.

Even if the option is Disable to use access control it just reenable itself and keep blocking devices. 4 days lost trying and trying. Lots a day of work because the laptop did not want to connect but all other devices could. Enough. Netgear is classified as Garbage in my book. Returning unit to Bestbuy

My devices couldnt pair so online chat asked if id like a call back, i said yes as nothing worked. The guy in India was very polite and I allowed him to go remote to find the problem.
He showed me some active internet addresses on my computer that werent mine and said they the problem but he could remove them before trying to pair the exrtender again. However!!! If he managed to remove the active addresses with an ati virus programme I would have to pay for the program for 1year, 3 or lifetime access costing from us$149.99 to $us499.99.
Im currently unemployed and even if I wasnt, $149 is a lot of money. It just felt a bit like a scam, i got scared & texted some friends who said hang up immediately. So I stopped the remote access. He called me immediately, I said how i felt and confirmed that he wouldnt help me unless i bought the antivirus. but only if it worked!!
I then msgd my friend who saod that was a bit steep and anti virus should be free. He told me to change modem pw and gave me steps to paor my devices and it worked within seconds.
So all of that BS saying the problem was the unauthorised
active addresses on my computer. But it wasn't, was it!! Wasted my time and I almost wasted a lot of money. Almost felt like blackmail. Be careful kids. So in an odd sense he tried to scam me!!

absolute worst customer service experience I've ever had. Do NOT recommend. I even paid the $300 bucks extra to get real customer service and they have been supposedly trying to solve my problem for 2 YEARS!!! And still NOTHING! THEY keep running me around in circles and waste thousands of hours of my time and my teams time.

I bought a EX6400 extender to support a security camera system. My current router I had would work with 4 of the 5 cameras. But the 5th camera was one of the most important. I get the extender home and I could not get it to connect with my router. I called their customer support and I was on the phone for 1hr and 10 minutes. And, without success, the person I was talking to either hung up or we were disconnected. But she never called back, at that point I was done with them anyway. So the next day I called back and worked with someone else and was able to resolve the issue in less than 30 minutes. The problem is each person had a heavy Indian accent and was really hard to understand them, and there was a lot of loud background voices. What happened to US based customer support with clear English speaking support people. Netgear does a terrible job with total lack of instructions for set up and poorly trained support with hard to understand people. Now I can see why their reviews are so bad..

Some years ago, I purchased netgear modem. I figured I would upgrade the product, so I purchased an upgrade late 2021 (?). Due to transitional issues, I was unable to use immediately. I was eventually stabled began using it this year. I had issues and they got worse, so I called netgear customer service. Warranty was expired and so I had to purchase a 6 months service support. I called netgear on 5/13/23 and spoke with Shabaz who tried to assist with troubleshooting. In the midst of this, the router stopped working. It was working BEFORE I called netgear, albeit not that great. Eventually he said he was taking a break and will call me back. In the interim, I called Xfinity to make sure the problem was not on their end. It was not. He did not call me back within the time he said he would call me, so I called back and spoke with Shabarish who tried to assist. This took another several hours. He finally declared my equipment was dead. We discussed purchasing another modem, naturally I asked how will netgear compensate for the inconvenience, because it was working BEFORE I called. He said he would place a refund request. We discussed discounts I would receive if I purchased another equipment from the netgear store. He even gave me the PROMO CODE: SAVE 50 so I can use. On 6/21/23 I called again, and 'Haggai' had me call the Care Team to speak with them because the case was escalated to that dept. I spoke with Ed from the Care Team, who reviewed and told me they could not give me the full refund but can give partial of $76.00. I disagreed with amt., but said ok. I received an email 8/17/23 that the partial request was denied. I was very upset. I called and spoke with Keerthana, who could not help. I called the Care Team and spoke with Ray. Ray told me that it was two seperate issues, which is why they denied. I explained this was ONE issue with two different case#'s. He grudgingly sent another request, and I learnt today it was DENIED. ZERO stars for NETGEAR. I will NOT be supporting or buying their products EVER again, and I tell everyone to STAY AWAY from Netgear. They do not care about you; only wants your money!

I will never again buy a Netgear product. I rang about an issue with my Orbi which was just outside of warranty by one month and they made me buy a 3 month support package where I call almost daily for over a month to try to resolve my issue with the router to no avail. They then promised to send me a new Orbi after we had exhausted all troubleshooting options but now after 8 months of waiting as they alledged to have not stock, they have closed my case with no apology or recourse. WARNING: Please think twice about purchasing a Netgear product as they will not provide you with any type of support or assistance and do not honour their promises.

Cant stand this company

Being a retired System Engineer I must say that Netgear has the worst support I have ever had. First of all technical support is Level 0 and they pretty much read from a script. They ask you the same questions numerous times without listening to what you said. When you purchase a Netgear product you are pretty much on your own. Better off purchasing from Amazon because at least you can send the product back for an exchange or credit.

The worst company customer support I have ever dealt with. Don't waste your money on their products. You will regret it. Poor customer service and lots of lies. If I could give them a minus 100-star review I would.

I purchase Armor internet security and its been a month with nobody being able to help me. I had multiple guys log on my computer to "fix the issue" but yet they cant and just told me to wait. Nobody with netgear or bitdefender knows what they are doing. They just give you the run around and blame the other party. Ive told them what the issues was and they yet to refund me, fix the issues, give me a code i asked for, now two days ago i had someone try to hack one of my accounts. They want $100 for terrible service!!! Case # 47058141 I've given them the info my computer says i have no subscription when in fact i do and provided them all the required info that I paid! I got an error message on my phone CODE : ARM-PYMT-EXP .

IF I WERE YOU I WOULD NEVER BUY THEIR PRODUCTS!!!!

I thought I was saving money by buying my own equipment . A Router plus a Modem since I have Landline still . The NightHawk series , That's $445.00 I wish I had not spent ! They lasted 2 years 4 months. I had nothing but problems , streaming, buffering issues, iPhone 12 constantly having to toggle wi-fi off and then on again to unfreeze it . I'm using XFINITY 6G Modem now for 2 months and WiFI isn't trying to stress me to death like NetGear did from the beginning . Updates not downloading, Having to Hard Power off everyday , several times a day ! Losing or not capturing my Ring Videos in the middle of the night when you need them most ... I threw both Electronics into the Trash .

I feel sick after trying to get some basic help from this company all day with no luck.

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER! ~ basically their business model seems to be to provide products that don't work well and then charge you subscription to customer service! Ridiculous and annoying scammers.

They lost a customer for life today simply by refusing to help with a simple question without me paying for help. Never buying from Netgear again and DO NOT RECOMMEND.

I went to install the A7000 and the CD was rubbish and wouldn't work and the online download installation confusing and repeated the same steps 3 times. It called the exact same download something different each time. After it didn't work I went back, deleted everything and tried again, I worked with and without internet, power cycled, basically did a whole range of things that should be thoroughly unecessary and it still didn't work. I called technical support and had to put up with annoying music and 'tips' for 20 minutes and then the guy was only interested in doing a bunch of paperwork, as he was going through I asked if it was necessary to register, to which he said no, but it helps, I said I want to install my A7000 not fill out paperwork. He said 'oh, well I can put you onto the tech team'.
I'm thinking like, why am I even talking to you?
at which point he put me back on hold and I eventually hung up after waiting on the phone for 30 minutes.
I will take it back, get a refund and swap it out for something else.
This is why I always do this stuff through local retail chains, it would be a nightmare trying to get a refund online.

Xfinity was unable to get a new IP on my modem and was told to contact the manufacturer which is Netgear they should be able to do that. When I get to talk to one of the representatives she was rude and was not trying to listen and while I was talking she hung up on me. This is how they treat their customer. Wow
I am impressed. Anyhow, Neither one was able to help me to get a new IP, I'm going to have to figure it out on my own. Netgear is dominating this market they need to invest money in their customer service which they barely have.

Bought a Nighthawk X4S. Cost well over a £100. It performed so poorly my tenants replaced it with a £40 extender. I then thought it deserved a second chance, that it couldn’t be that bad. But then it wouldn’t even connect to the internet. I tried all their online suggestions and trouble shooting, factory reset etc. So I called Technical support and they said I needed to pay for technical support as it was out of warranty!! Are you serious?? I think that’s the first time I have called a company and they have requested to be paid to give advice on how to fix they’re poor product.

Save your money Junk!!!

Bought the wifi extender, I can’t hook it up because it’s not admitting a signal it self. Trouble shooting tips, tell me to hook a computer up to it and reprogram the thing. Are you kidding me. Pure junk